Kids can break out of the mid-winter blues, munch French toast and sausage, sit in jets with open cockpits, and dream of taking flight at two special events this month at the Empire State Aerosciences Museum (ESAM) in Glenville.
The first event, a pancake breakfast and presentation on fighter planes, takes place from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 20. The tasty breakfast menu features pancakes or French toast, sausage, eggs, applesauce, juice and coffee, and is open to all members of the family. After breakfast, kids and adults alike can watch a presentation called Kings of the Sky! The Evolution of Fighter Planes Over the Years.
`We call this a multi-media presentation,` said ESAM Education Director Bill Mahon. `It’s a PowerPoint show, and we use models to show the changes in fighter planes from World War I to the present times. We tailor it to the specific audiences, and have shown it to everyone from college kids to 4-H children and their parents.`
Kevin Millington, the museum’s president and an expert on planes, will present the program. The price of the breakfast event is $5 for adults and $2 for children ages five to eight.
On Saturday, Jan. 27 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the museum invites families to `Cabin Fever Day with the Kids.`
`This is a way for all family members to get out of the house and do something different,` said Mahon.
Included with the museum admission will be a children’s film at 1 p.m., and the chance to crawl inside two jets ` the A-4 Skyhawk and a British Gnat. Kids can do a hands-on project to introduce them to aviation and rocketry by making their own stick rocket and then launching it outdoors with rubber band catapults. The educational program `Kings of the Sky! The Evolution of Fighter Planes Over the Years` will also be presented. Parents can also feed their kids’ hungry bellies with refreshments on sale throughout the day.
At both events, brave kids and adults who aren’t prone to motion sickness can climb inside the Simulated Reality Vehicle (SRV) for a wild ride. Passengers take a bumpy adventure that replicates a flight with a barn stormer.
`The barn stormers were the early stunt flyers in bi-planes,` said Mahon. `They literally flew through barns. Our simulation takes riders through caves and tunnels, and over volcanoes.`
The seats move up, down, and back and forth in tandem with the images presented on the screen. The SRV ride comes with an additional ticket purchase of $5 for adults and $4 for kids under age 16.
The museum operates from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for Seniors, $2 for kids age 6 to 16, and children under 6 are free.
The Empire State Aerosciences Museum is a nonprofit corporation, chartered by the state Department of Education. The museum occupies nine buildings and 27 acres of land on the western perimeter of the Schenectady County Airport, where Charles Lindbergh landed in 1927. During the 1930s, it was an aircraft manufacturing site and became a military training area and an AAF base during World War II. Aircraft research and development conducted there was so important that the first jet airmail started from the site in 1946. The museum’s collection of aircraft includes: F-14A Tomcat, A-6E Intruder, A-4F Skyhawk II, F-4D Phantom II, F-101F `Voodoo,` F-105G Thunderchief `Wild Weasel,` Huey helicopter, Russian MiG-17F and MiG-21, A-10 `Warthog,` A-7E Corsair II and F-84F Thunderstreak.
The main galleries contain some of the more fragile aircraft, detailed models, dioramas, historical artifacts, memorabilia, and photographic displays. A sampling of the exhibits are the DePischoff `flying motorcycle,` the Amelia Earhart Exhibit, and a 32-foot scale model of the Japanese aircraft carrier `Akagi.` The museum’s hands-on exhibits include a mock-up of a 1910 Von Pomer airplane, electronic `spotter` aircraft identification, and the Simulated Reality Vehicle. The Restoration Center houses aircraft in various stages of restoration.
ESAM is located at 250 Rudy Chase Drive in Glenville. For information, call 377-2191 or log onto www.esam.org.“